Skeletons Among Us: With their relationship picking up momentum, Maria and Rod travel to Arizona for his class reunion. While there, a terrible discovery in the Superstition Mountains lands Rod in jail and Maria in a panic, unsure of whom she can trust. Rod's old law school professor? Former classmates? His defense attorney? Or the leader of mysterious Keepers? Like Maria, everyone seems to be hiding their own dark secrets. But if she can't uncover the truth, Rod will never make it out of Arizona alive.
I've been waiting eagerly for this book ever since we reviewed book one, Robbed of Soul. I knew it would be well written and interesting, and I also knew that I'd connect with the characters, since I already knew Maria and Rod from book one. I didn't, however, expect it to be as completely enthralling and fascinating as it was. I often claim that I can tell "whodunnit" fairly quickly into a story (regardless of whether or not Sissy believes me) but I was completely shocked at how this one went down. Lois Brown has woven quite the sticky web and I couldn't tell who was a spider and who was a fly until the very end.
There were so many things going on in Skeletons Among Us, it might be helpful for you readers to read Robbed of Soul first in order to get the background on Maria and Rod. There's this horribly complex murder mystery at the center of the plot (so complex that even the Great Bubbini couldn't figure it out) but also a few subplots as well. Due to her CIA trauma, Maria has gained the paranormal gift of seeing ghosts. I don't know if I'd call it a gift, however, because if I saw ghosts on a regular basis I would be freaked out on a regular basis. And some of these ghosts are not friendly!
There's a whole lot of not-friendly going around in this book. I don't want to give any spoilers, so let's just say that if the murderer(s), the ghost(s) and the creepy goings on in the mountain aren't enough to worry Maria and Rod, there's a whole 'nother group of people who have some...interesting...abilities, in addition to not being friendly. One of the aspects of Skeletons Among Us that really piqued my interest were the true-life chapter headings, detailing some of the strange and still unsolved happenings in the Superstition Mountains. Sissy wants to pack up our prospecting gear and head right out to see if we can find the Dutchman's Lost Mine but after reading about those who have tried and failed, often losing their lives (and their heads) in the process, I'm gonna stay put, thank you very much.
My favorite thing about the books in the Legends of Treasure series is the fact that Lois Brown takes real historical facts and blends them with legends and her own imaginative contemporary stories. I love tales with a side of paranormal activity as long as we don't go into horror flick territory. Rod and Maria, having gone through this latest ordeal, will have to do some healing and I hope it doesn't ruin their relationship. I'm gonna say that it won't (are you listening, Lois D. Brown?) and that book three, Riddles That Kill - coming out in the fall of 2017 - will see them happily in love. Of course, there will be adventures and specters good and evil but Rod and Maria will face them together.
I don't know how many books are planned for the Legends of Treasure series, but I hope we get at least four. That should give Rod and Maria enough time to get over their various traumas and -
What are you talking about? They have to resolve things in book three! They can keep on adventuring and sleuthing through dozens of books, which would make me most happy, but committed, reciprocal love must be present in book three.
Fine. Regardless, it seems like Lois D. Brown only gets better, as proved by Skeletons Among Us. So bring on the dozens of books featuring happily married Rod and Maria!
Thank you. Skeletons Among Us is a delightfully refreshing change of pace from the (equally delightful) romances we've been reading lately. Chocolate is always great but occasionally I need some salted caramel. In this case, that translates to just the right amount of paranormal, mixed with adventure, folded in with mystery, and sprinkled with a smidgen of affection. In other words, I gobbled up book two in the Legends of Treasure series and really want more.
Click to buy Skeletons Among Us by Lois D. Brown
